Wednesday's local baseball roundup: Williamsburg, Denbigh fall from state Legion Senior tournament without a victory

Daily Press

The American Legion Senior state baseball tournament wasn't kind to its Peninsula hosts.

Both Williamsburg Post 39 and Denbigh Post 368 finished 0-2 in the eight-team event at Warhill Sports Complex, as each lost Wednesday in the losers' bracket.

Mechanicsville Post 175, the top team in the Richmond area, rallied past District Three champion Post 39 6-5 over 16 innings and 4 hours, 35 minutes Wednesday. The last half-hour or so was played in the rain. Mitch Keeler doubled home the winning run in the top of the 16th.

Denbigh, the district runner-up, lost 3-1 to Vienna Post 180.

Behind starting pitcher Trevor Otey, Post 39 took a 3-0 lead in the first two innings. Mechanicsville scored once in the third inning, then twice in the ninth to force extra innings.

Post 175 netted two runs in the 12th to go ahead, but Post 39 answered with a pair later that inning, helped by an error on the Mechanicsville shortstop.

In the bottom of the 14th, Williamsburg had a chance to win, but Matt Perry lined out to left field with runners on second and third.

Later in the day, Albemarle Post 74 routed Roanoke Post 3 16-2 in the winners' bracket. Winchester Post 21 and Danville Post 325 were to play the late game.

The tournament continues through Friday.

Coastal Plain League:

The playoff-bound Peninsula Pilots earned their eighth victory in nine games, scoring seven unanswered runs on their way to a 9-4 home victory over the Morehead City Marlins before 1,379 at War Memorial Stadium.

After trailing 2-0, the Pilots amassed two runs in the second inning and four in the third to take control.

The Pilots (33-18) boosted themselves to 19-5 in the second half of the season as they compete with Edenton for the Coastal Plain League's East Division second-half championship. The rivals face each other on Trivia Night at War Memorial Stadium.

East Carolina's Garrett Brooks batted 2-for-3 and scored twice to lead the Pilots. Patrick Grady of Lander, Bill Cullen of VCU, Jamestown High graduate Scott Burkett of Longwood and Tyler Urps added two hits apiece.

Norfolk State's Justin Bhatti (5-1) pitched his way to the victory, yielding six hits, two walks and two runs in five innings.

Tsuyoshi Wada struck out 10 in 6 2/3 innings as the Norfolk Tides ended a five-game slide with a 3-0 win at Pawtucket, scoring three runs in a third inning that included two Red Sox errors — one by losing pitcher Allen Webster — and a run-scoring wild pitch.

Adam Duvall belted a tying home run and Ryan Lollis scored twice to help Richmond edge visiting Portland 3-2 before 4,297 at The Diamond, the Flying Squirrels' third consecutive victory.

Javier Herrera's triple scored Lollis from third base in the seventh for the game's final run.

Thursday's game against the Sea Dogs figures to be more memorable than Wednesday's, though. That's because it's "Salute to Scandal Night," when the Flying Squirrels will poke fun at New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner and other celebrities.

They intend to sell hot dogs for $1 Thursday at The Diamond and say fans can enter a contest by tweeting photos during the game showing how they are enjoying their hot dogs. Other contests will include a "Brett Favre football throw" and "Tiger Woods closest-to-the-pin challenge."